The First Days
by MirrorMarch
Summary: Peach's first days at the mansion are not going to be easy. Nervous and uncoordinated, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom isn't anyone's first choice as a fighter. But now, faced with terrifying (and occasionally hot) opponents, Peach has little choice. And on top of it all, she has to live with wacky housemates, a gorgeous Hylian, and a very emo angel. (Rated T for swearing)
1. Chapter 1

**Edit: 1/5/2019. I went through and corrected some grammar/spelling mistakes in this chapter and the next one.**

The huge mansion stood at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of a flat field of gently waving grass, its walls, high and constructed of brownstone, cast long shadows in the early morning sun.

Princess Peach looked up at the building and gulped, clutching her letter of invitation tight in her white-gloved hand. The sight was unquestionably daunting, and Peach felt butterflies dance uncomfortably in her stomach at the thought of entering the house.

"Will that be all, Miss?" the cabbie who had delivered her to the mansion asked from his seat behind the wheel of the car.

"What? Oh. Yes, that'll be all," Peach replied, stepping daintily around her luggage that sat on the ground to give the cabbie what she owed him.

"Thank you," she said to him as she handed a handful of coins to him.

"Anytime, Miss," the cabbie responded, taking his wages and tipping his hat to Peach before driving away down the long dirt road.

The princess watched the cab disappear in a cloud of dust until she stood alone in the driveway. The butterflies in her stomach started to morph into some larger breed of insect that writhed in her gut. She wished the cabbie would come back. Then at least she would have the option of retreat from this terrifying place, but it wasn't to be. The cab didn't return, and Peach knew that, even if it had, she would have to go through with this, no matter what.

She clutched the letter in her sweaty hand harder, reminding herself of why she had come here in the first place. She was here to train, for her own sake as well as for the sake of her people. As the sole ruler of Mushroom Kingdom, it was Peach's sworn duty to help and protect the citizens, and so far, she had come to realize in recent days, she had done a lousy job of it. She couldn't defend anyone, not even herself, from the evils that plagued her country. She had been kidnapped and then subsequently rescued more times than she cared to count, she had failed to defend her people in the face of what she could only describe as terrorism, and she always had to rely on someone else to save her and her kingdom as every wrong turn _she_ made.

It sickened her to think of it, and she was tired of being helpless. One could only be the damsel in distress so many times before they snapped, and Peach had reached that point. That's why she had come to this place, to the so-called "smashers mansion" to hone her combat skills, even though she was terrified.

Peach took a deep breath as she stared up at the massive house, trying to bring a level of calm into her mind.

 _There's no need to worry, Peach,_ she thought to herself, _the only people in there are good guys, just like you. They're here for the same reason you are: to train to protect the people and countries they love. They're just like you, so stop worrying._

This thought helped to slow Peach's rapidly beating heart, and she loosened her grip on her letter.

"Okay. Let's just knock on the door for starters," she mumbled to herself.

She mounted the steps to the front door and knocked loudly. No answer. She tried the doorbell. Still no response. After five minutes of periodical knocking, ringing and waiting, Peach knew she had to accept the fact that no one was home.

 _They must all be training,_ she surmised, casting her gaze to the left, where a long, single-story building stretched out behind the mansion. She knew that this was the place where the smashers used for their training, and she guessed that her best bet for finding any of the residents of the mansion was to enter that building.

The butterflies came back, but Peach didn't falter. Shakily, she walked down the steps and out into the field toward the training grounds, still clutching her letter.

The short walk was difficult in her high heels, but she eventually managed to make it to the building. She pushed open the heavy door that was the entrance, and found herself in a plain, white room with linoleum floors and three metal doors leading off of it. In the corner to the left of where she stood, Peach noticed a single, lonely desk. On closer inspection, the princess discovered that a book filled with of pages and pages of records sat on the desk's surface. The records seemed to indicate what training rooms were in use at a particular time, and who was in them. Peach assumed that this was to keep anyone from bursting in on someone else's fighting sessions or perhaps to know where to look if one was searching for a fellow smasher. The princess tried to figure out from the most recent entries who was in the room closest to her, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The last one on the page said "Block 1, TR 2: Dart, Ike, Falcon, Link: 30 min."

The last part, at least, she could understand. It was a list of the fighters in the room, and how long they would be training at that particular time. She didn't know what the "Block 1, TR 2" stood for, nor, on that note, did she recognize any of the fighters names except for last one. She had at least heard of Link, the Hero of Hyrule, but she had no idea what he looked like or, for that matter, which of those blasted doors he was behind.

"I'll just have to choose one at random," she muttered distastefully to herself, "though it would have been nice to know one other person here."

Of course, she used the word "know" in its loosest context, as she had never even seen Link before, nor had she any idea of what a Hylian even was. For all she knew, the hero could have been a tiny, deadly rodent-like creature that could kick butt with the best of them. All the same, Peach figured that even knowing about his existence would be better than entering a room full of complete strangers.

Sucking in another calming breath and pushing all these thoughts from her mind, Peach selected the door directly across from the entrance and walked nervously toward it. She stopped when she reached it, feeling the slight trepidation in her gut turn suddenly to all-out fear as the moment of truth loomed before her. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from crying, and it took her a full five minutes before she worked up the courage to even raise her hand to knock.

She was just about to rap her knuckles against the door and face whatever followed, when, suddenly, the metal door before her flew off its hinges in a great explosion of fire, missing her body by mere centimeters, and a blue-haired man carrying a massive gold sword tumbled out after it, landing on his back just inches from where Peach stood. Usually, her first impulse would have been to see if the man was alright, but at that moment, she was too stunned to move. She only stared at his prone body in horror as the flames leaped around him. In a second or two, though, the man opened his eyes and sprang to his feet, casting off his flaming cloak and charging back into the room, crying out "Aether!" as he ran in, his sword leading. Apparently, he hadn't noticed Peach, but the princess no longer cared; she was too busy trying to fight back the growing feeling of nausea that roiled in her stomach as she watched the fight inside the training room. She couldn't even focus on any of the fighters, only on the explosions, cries and blood that choked the air. The letter she held was now hopelessly crushed, and silent tears of terror slipped down her cheeks.

She couldn't do this, not if she would have to join in a fight like that while she was here. This was insane. She wasn't talented like they were. She couldn't jump up after being caught up in a plume of fire like that blue-haired fighter could, or ignore the feeling of pain after being hit around. She couldn't do this. She was going to die.

"Hey, you okay?" a voice unexpectedly asked from behind her, and Peach, already high-strung, jumped at the sound of it. She whipped around to see... an angel. There was no other way to describe the boy that stood before her. He was short and appeared to be in his early teens. Her wore a white robe over a short, black body suit and a laurel crown on his head. His hair was tousled and brown, his eyes bright blue, and—the feature that held Peach's gaze—a pair of white, feathered wings sprouted from his back.

"I've never seen you around before," the angel boy said conversationally as if the fight behind Peach wasn't raging on, "are you the new arrival?"

Peach blinked, befuddled and still queasy.

"Um... yeah, I have this letter... I'm..." she trailed away as a wave of dizziness flooded her.

"I think I need to sit down," she mumbled, and she fell to her knees on the cold linoleum floor. The angel boy knelt beside her in concern, and said nervously, "you don't look so good. Seriously, are you alright?"

Peach only managed to shake her head and explain briefly "I feel a little sick," before she had to clamp her mouth shut to stop herself from vomiting.

The angel placed an awkward hand on her back, asking, "do you need a doctor? I can find him for you, if you want."

Peach shook her head, pressing a hand over her mouth as the bile crept up her throat. Dimly, she heard a shrill buzzer go off behind her, a deep voice laugh, "that was good! When's lunch?" and then footsteps approaching. But at that moment, Peach could no longer hold in the stinging fluid that burned her esophagus, and she moved her hand away from her mouth a moment before she vomited... all over someone's foot. She coughed and slapped a hand back over her mouth as she looked up in horror at the owner of that foot.

It was another angel with features that were nearly identical to the one that knelt beside her, except that his wings, hair and clothing were all black, and his eyes were a deep shade of burgundy. He stared back down at her and his foot first in shock, then in disgusted anger. He looked like he was a millisecond away from exploding when the white-winged angel stood and hurried to explain, "she didn't mean to do that, Pittoo! Please don't yell at her! She's new here!"

"Pittoo" turned his burning glare toward the white angel and snapped fiercely, "why the crap wouldn't I yell at her!? I don't care if she meant to or not, it's still her damn fault that my foot is covered in—"

"I know," the other angel interrupted quickly, "but I think she's just scared, and it won't help if you keep yelling at her! Please, Pittoo, just this once, can you please give her some slack?"

The dark angel growled and grumbled "dammit" as he flicked the repulsive bile in Peach's direction, but he made no other comments as he turned and stomped out of the room.

After he left, the white angel turned back to the princess and knelt down beside her once more, patting her back reassuringly.

"Don't worry," he said, "he's like that even when he hasn't just had his foot... embellished. You'll get used to it."

Peach appreciated his attempts to make her feel better, but the embarrassment, fear and exhaustion were too much at that moment, and instead, the angel boy's words only succeeded in causing her to break down in tears.

"I-it's okay," the angel stammered awkwardly, "we can fix this."

It was obvious, however, that he had no idea what to do, and it was at this moment, to the angel's evident relief, that a new voice asked above them both, "Pit? What's going on here? Is she okay?"

Peach swiped the tears away from her eyes and looked up at this new speaker.

Her jaw almost hit the floor.

Standing over her, looking anxious and confused, was the most handsome man Peach had ever seen. He was dressed all in green, with a sword and shield strapped to his back. His features were lean, angular and elf-like, with pointed, pierced ears and blonde hair tied back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes were the clearest, most electrifying shade of blue imaginable. Peach could only stare as he listened to the angel—Pit's—words.

"She's the new arrival. She's sick, I think."

The elf-like man knelt beside her now, addressing her directly.

"Are you alright? Can you walk? We need to get you to the house, okay?"

Peach just nodded again, this time to flustered over the elf-man's close proximity and obvious concern for her to speak.

"Good," he said, giving her a warm smile and standing back up before offering a hand down to her. "Come on then. You can lean on me if you have to."

He helped her to stand, and they began to walk back to the house, with Pit hurrying along behind them.

•∞•

Inside the mansion, Peach's companions lead her through a maze of hallways, stairwells and rooms with utter surety, though the princess herself got dizzy trying to remember all the turns and descents they made. As they walked, Peach noticed that her earlier assessment about the house being empty was incorrect: there were in fact other people inside, but they were all so deep inside the mansion that she assumed they hadn't heard her when she had knocked. The other fighters looked up curiously as the three of them passed, but none of them seemed to exhibit any hostile behavior toward her, which, on this particular day, seemed more than Peach had dared to hope for.

Eventually, they came to a room on the floor just below ground level that sat just opposite the stairs they had just descended. The door was white and unadorned, with a handle overlaid with a gold finish.

"What's this?" the princess asked her guides, again feeling a nervousness of the unknown creeping up on her.

"Doctor's office," her elven companion explained, reaching out to open the door. "We all use this room a lot."

The door swung open, and they all stepped in.

Inside was the most comfortable doctor's office Peach had ever seen. All the furniture and walls were, as was customary, white, but they were decorated with vases of flowers, hanging pictures and softly burning oil lamps. Along the left side of the room was a row of beds with crisp white sheets and piles of cushy pillows, all with side tables set up beside them. On the right half of the room was an examination table, a few IV stands, and a small table upon which sat all the doctor's tools.

It was on this side of the room that the doctor now stood, with his back to them. He was currently working on the blue-haired man from earlier who sat on the examination table with his sleeves rolled high up his arms, and an impatient look on his face. Peach winced as she caught a glimpse of the red burn marks on the man's arms, but the tall fighter himself seemed unconcerned.

"How long's this gonna take, Doc?" the man asked as the doctor applied some kind of sharp-scented poultice to his arms, "it's lunch time already and I'm starving."

The doctor sighed, then said, "Only a little longer, Ike, just be patient!"

Peach felt her heart leap at the sound of his voice, and she recognized it immediately.

"Mario?" she questioned, hardly daring to believe it.

The doctor stopped what he was doing, and both he and Ike turned to look at her. Ike displayed a blank, unfamiliar expression, but Mario's face lit up at the sight of her.

"Peach!" he exclaimed, "you did come! It's wonderful to see you!"

Peach felt tears of relief spring to her eyes at the sight of her friend, and she pulled gently away from the elven man's grasp to greet him. She wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, trying not to cry in front of the three other men.

"You've no idea how glad I am to see you!" she declared breathlessly. Mario, seeming a bit confused by her words, patted her back in a friendly manner nonetheless.

"Yes, I'm very happy you're here too, Peach," he said, "but if you'll excuse me one moment, I have to finish treating Ike here."

Peach nodded against his shoulder and released him, backing away a step.

Mario turned back to his patient, who now seemed utterly befuddled by her presence.

"Okay. Does anybody want to tell me what's going on here?" he asked, looking from Peach to Mario in confusion.

"Ike, this is Peach." the short doctor explained as he began binding the taller man's arms in clean bandages, "she's a good friend of mine, and she's going to be training here with us from now on."

Ike's face cleared, and he held out his free arm to her.

"I see. Welcome aboard, newbie! Glad to have you! The name's Ike. Nice to meet you!"

Peach accepted the handshake with a little smile. The man seemed nice enough, although perhaps a bit dense.

"Nice to meet you too," she said, feeling a bit more comfortable now.

Mario finished binding Ike's arms, and clapped him amicably on the shoulder.

"Alright, you're done." he told him. "Just come see me if those burns start hurting again."

"Will do," Ike agreed, sliding off the table and striding eagerly to the door. "Thanks, Doc! I'm off to lunch now!"

He gave a final salute to Mario, then departed. The elf man shook his head as he watched Ike leave.

"It's not even ten o' clock yet," he muttered, "does that man ever stop eating?"

"Doubtful." Pit replied, tsking in superiority. "He could probably imbibe an elephant and still be hungry!"

"You're one to talk, Pit!" Mario admonished, while behind the angel, the elven man mouthed "imbibe?" in confused amusement.

"Anyway," Mario said, changing the subject, "what brings you down here, Peach?"

"Oh, that's right!" the blonde elven man exclaimed, "I nearly forgot. Mario, I don't think she's feeling well. Do you think you could look at her?"

Mario turned his concerned eyes to Peach.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner? Of course I'll help." Then, to Pit and the other man, "why don't you two head on upstairs. We'll join you as soon as we can."

"Alright." the blonde man said, turning to the door, "I hope you feel better soon, Peach."

The princess felt a blush creep onto her face as the elf man said her name, and she turned away quickly to hide it.

"Thanks," she muttered. Then, both he and Pit left, closing the door softly behind them.

Once they were gone, Peach dropped heavily into a white plastic chair in the corner of the room, thoroughly spent.

"Are you alright, Peach?" Mario questioned anxiously, moving towards her.

"I'm okay," she replied, "just a little overwhelmed, that's all."

He relaxed and smiled understandingly.

"We all were at first. You should have seen Pit when he arrived! He was practically shaking!"

Peach looked up at her friend.

"He was that scared?" she asked, encouraged that she hadn't been the only one afraid on their first day.

Mario took a breath, paused, then stated flatly, "no. Actually, it turns out the trip here was longer than he had anticipated, and he really had to pee."

Peach's face fell. Mario hurried to reassure her.

"But, I mean, Pit's excited about everything. I don't know of any time that I remember him being afraid."

Peach's expression went from crestfallen to crushed.

"And... um... Okay, that was a bad example," Mario blundered on. "But... well... there was... no, he wasn't nervous either..."

The princess dropped her head into her hands, and her shoulders began shaking with sobs.

"It's just me then!" she mourned, "this is so pitiful! I was terrified of coming here, and now I learn that no one else was even nervous about it! How more pathetic can I get!?"

Mario leaned over to wrap an arm around her shoulders in a firm hug.

"That's not what I meant to imply at all, Peach," he informed her, "and I'm sorry if it sounded that way to you. I'm sure that a lot of people were nervous about it when they came, but they just didn't show it. There are a lot of stoics around here, after all."

"You're just saying that," Peach whimpered, her face still hidden in her gloved hands, "everyone here are professionals. They're all heroes. They weren't scared of a little battle training; it's nothing to them!"

Mario said nothing for a moment, the only noise being Peach's quiet sobs, then, slowly, he began, "you know, maybe you're right about that."

Peach lifted her head now to regard him, her face lined with wet trails of fallen tears.

"Maybe they weren't scared." Mario continued, no longer looking Peach but at the far wall, his expression showing that he was deep in thought.

"But you know what else? I believe—no, I _know—_ that they're all afraid of something; no matter how big or how tough they seem. Everyone has fears, Peach, and though it may not seem like a big deal to them, for you it was something coming here today. That's what really matters. It's not what we fear, it's how we face that fear and rise above it."

Now he looked back down at the princess, and a smile widened on his face underneath his thick mustache.

"You did that today, Peach. You faced something you were truly afraid of, and that makes you just as brave and just as tough as every one of the heroes out there."

Peach only stared at him after this speech, a new kind of tears clouding her vision: tears of gratitude.

"Thank you, Mario," she whispered, trying her best not to start crying again.

"You're welcome," he replied, then, in a more upbeat tone, "now let's see if we can find something in the back that'll help you calm down. Stay right there."

With these words, Mario turned and walked to the back of the room where another door was situated. Peach assumed that this was the room where he kept all his medicines and supplies. He disappeared through the door, allowing it to swing shut behind him, and leaving Peach in the office alone.

She was just beginning to reflect how pleasant it was to have a few moments to herself, when another patient entered the office, and Peach had to hold back a distressed squeak when she recognized him as the black-winged angel from earlier. He stepped into the room, seeming not to notice the princess in her corner seat, and scowled darkly, obviously annoyed.

 _Is he still mad at me?_ she wondered, hoping that this wasn't the case. It would be awful if she'd made an enemy on her very first day.

The angel looked around, realized that Mario wasn't there, and muttered sarcastically "great."

Then his eyes finally fell on Peach. She tried to smile kindly at him, but his face remained stony as he stared icily back and stated insultingly to her face "joy. Even better," in a dead monotone. Then he turned his winged back on her and walked to the examination table to wait for Mario's return without sparing her another glance.

Peach felt her jaw drop at his blatant coarseness, and she couldn't decide if she wanted to cry or scream. But of course, being a princess, she knew this situation called for neither of those options, and so, with enormous self-control, she took a deep breath and said "good morning."

He didn't reply. He didn't give any indication that he'd her, and he still neglected to look in her direction.

 _Is he giving me the silent treatment!?_ Peach thought, shocked again at his rude behavior. Still, she knew she had to try to mend her rocky relationship with her new housemate, and so attempted a more direct approach.

"I'm very sorry about earlier. I really had no idea you were anywhere near me until it was... um... too late."

Still, no response.

Peach tried once more.

"That fight seemed pretty intense. Are you alright..." she struggled for a second to recall the name that Pit had addressed him as, "Pittoo?"

Now he did react, but it wasn't in the way Peach had hoped. His body went as hard and rigid as an iron rod, and he turned an intense, burning gaze on her.

"Don't," he said slowly in a voice that could have belonged to a serial killer, "call. Me. That. Again."

Peach shrunk back in her chair under his furious glare and inquired in a quivering tone "oh. Is that not right?"

"My name is Dart," he informed her icily, "call me 'Pittoo' one more time, and I'll make sure you won't be able to say anything ever again."

He looked away from her, indicating that the discussion was over.

Peach didn't argue. She had no desire to be murdered on her first day, and she sensed that continuing to speak at this time would only lead to her quick and tragic demise.

Peach left the office a few minutes later. Mario had given her a simple medicine that would help calm her nerves and her rebellious stomach before he had turned to Dart. Peach knew her friend well enough to recognize the iciness under his pretended niceties as he treated the dark angel. It seemed that the winged boy's rude behavior wasn't only isolated to her, and the thought was strangely comforting. She had been afraid that she had incited his hatred from the get-go, which would have been a novel and unwelcome experience for the princess. She had never been despised by anyone before, not even Bowser—though now that she thought about it, that fact may have been a large contributing factor in her frequent kidnappings instrumented by the King Koopa.

Still, she didn't think she wanted to be disliked by anyone, even a large relative of a turtle who stalked her mercilessly.

She decided for the time being that she would put the thoughts of Dart out of her head for the sake of her own sanity and focus on other matters... like getting food. After a morning spent in a flurry of stress and anxiety where she had been too nervous to eat, coupled with the recent "purge" of her stomach, Peach was starving.

She ascended the stairs to the ground floor and walked down the hall that adjoined it, but stopped when she came to another passage at the end that ran parallel from the doorway where she stood in both directions. She looked left, then right, then shrugged helplessly and turned in the former direction. She didn't fancy the thought of getting lost, but she figured that with so many people in the mansion, she was bound to find someone sooner or later who would help her navigate the house.

After a few minutes of wandering down multiple hallways and blindly turning around corners that could have lead to the moon for all she knew, Peach finally ran into someone. It was a young man, perhaps in his late teens, a bit stocky—with shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. It was another new face, but Peach didn't mind. It wasn't the meeting people that made her nervous—she had to do that all the time as a princess—it was the meeting then subsequently getting beaten to a pulp by those people that turned her insides to jelly. She knew, though, that the young man standing in front of her now was not going to whack her around completely unprompted. Everyone here was on the same side, and whatever enmity might have existed between the various residents wasn't of the serious kind, and most probably wouldn't result in acts of violence. Besides, Peach thought with an inner smile, the man had a nice face. He didn't look the frightening sort at all.

"Oh," the young man said, blinking in surprise and confusion at her abrupt appearance before him, "hello there. Don't think I've seen you around here before. You new?"

"Yes, I just got here a couple of hours ago, actually." the princess responded, trying to hold back an immature giggle at her companion's strange accent, "I'm Peach. Pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, mate," he replied, extending a his hand and shaking hers, "the name's Shulk."

Peach smiled at him, taking an instant liking to the easygoing attitude in his mannerisms.

"So," he continued, "what are you doing wandering around back here? You lost or something?"

Peach nodded, shrugging her shoulders in a "what can you do?" expression. Shulk only laughed and held out an arm to her.

"Well, I'll be you escort then. Just say the word and I'll take you wherever you want!"

Peach took his the offered arm and replied with a smile, "thank you very much. I'd like to go to the kitchen, please. I'm afraid I'm in dire need of some breakfast."

"Of course, my lady," Shulk responded laughingly, and he lead her back in the direction from which he had come, through confusing, twisting halls and rooms, until they reached a grand living room filled with cushy armchairs, large, fluffy couches, and a huge fireplace with a fire that burned softly in its heart.

Peach released Shulk's arm and looked in awe about her. The more she saw of the mansion, the more entranced she became with it, and this room was no exception. With its high ceiling, soft carpet, and soft, cream-colored walls, Peach thought it the most charming and relaxing example of interior design she had ever seen.

"Oh," she breathed in admiration and delight, "this place is lovely."

Shulk nodded agreement, stating smoothly "yeah, it's pretty nice, isn't it? This room can even fit everyone here, if you can believe that."

"Wow," Peach commented, turning a full 360 degrees to examine the whole space around her.

When she had finished marveling at the living room, Shulk grabbed her attention and pointed to a doorway to their left.

"That's the kitchen there," he informed her. "If you need anything else, just give me a holler, alright?"

"I will. Thank you so much for escorting me." Peach replied with a small curtsy.

Shulk awkwardly and shyly twisted a piece of his shaggy blond hair between two fingers and responded, "oh, well... it was my pleasure, really. Don't mention it."

There was a second of stiff silence between them, each unsure of what to say to the other. Then Shulk breathed deeply and turned to go, stating as he waved to her over his shoulder, "I'd better be off. I was supposed to help the doc with something today. See you 'round, Peach!"

The princess waved at his retreating back, then turned to the kitchen doorway, more than ready to eat, and feeling not quite out of place after all.

•∞•

Apparently, Peach wasn't the only one looking for a late breakfast that morning, for as she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by a small group of people had gathered in the room, some sitting calmly around a little round table, and some digging through the cabinets, pantry and fridge for something to eat. She recognized these last ones as Ike and Pit, but the two people at the table, both women, were foreign to her.

She realized that she had entered in the middle of an argument, so her presence went relatively unnoticed at that moment.

"Look, Ike, you can't eat all the eggs in that carton. It's not fair to the rest of us!" Pit was saying as she studied the situation from the doorway, "I like eggs just as much as you, so I'm entitled to at least half of those!"

"Half!?" Ike scoffed as he held a full carton of eggs above his head to keep it away from Pit's limited reach, "you're like the size of a hummingbird! What would you even do with six eggs!?"

"Eat them!" Pit shot back, jumping up and fluttering his wings to try to reach the food.

Ike just leaned away from the angel and stood higher on his toes to keep the carton clear of the boy's hands.

"You can't eat six eggs," he reiterated. "These are mine! Fighting makes me hungry, and that match was no walk in the park, let me tell you!"

"Well, I was fighting, too, you know!" Pit argued, rising a foot in the air for a moment with a hop and a flap of his wings, "and I know I _can_ eat six eggs because I've done it before, and it was delicious!"

"It's true, Ike," a woman with long green hair seated at the table put in, "I've seen him do it. He may look small, but he's got the appetite of a bear before hibernation!"

Ike was still unmoved, and Peach decided that she should step in before things got too out of hand.

"Um, excuse me?" she said shyly as she moved farther into the room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her, with Pit and Ike frozen comically in the same positions they had taken in their argument.

"Sorry to interrupt," she continued, "but I was wondering if I could possibly get some breakfast in here."

"Of course," the woman who had yet to speak answered in cultured tones. "Please help yourself."

"Thank you," Peach replied, then, feeling that some explanation was in order, she added, "I'm Peach, by the way. I just got here."

"I see," the woman said in the same refined timbre as she rose from her seat to greet the princess. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Zelda."

Zelda gestured to the others in the room, beginning with the other woman at the table, "this is Palutena—" Peach nodded a greeting to her, and Palutena smiled warmly back—"and those two are Pit and Ike."

"Yes, hello again." the princess said to the boys.

"Greetings, pink woman," Ike replied, still carefully holding the eggs away from Pit, but the angel seemed to have forgotten about them as he skipped happily over to Peach.

"Hi!" he chirped, bouncing joyfully on his toes in front of her, "it's good to see you looking better! Did Mario fix you up?"

Peach smiled at him, touched by his expression of concern.

"Yeah, he did. I'm perfectly fine now, thank you." she affirmed.

Pit grinned.

"That's a relief!" he gushed, "I thought you were gonna have to stay in the infirmary all day!"

Beside them, Palutena laughed.

"Pit!" she admonished lightly, "try not to overwhelm the poor girl! Some of us aren't as accustomed to your enthusiasm as I am, okay?"

Pit hopped to Peach's side and grabbed her wrist in an expression of familiarity.

"Oh, it's alright, Lady Palutena!" he assured the woman, "we already know each other! Right, Peach?"

Peach couldn't help but laugh herself at his boundless energy.

"Yes. Yes, we do." Then to Palutena, "Pit helped me out of stressful situation earlier."

Zelda seemed intrigued by this.

"Stressful situation, you say?" she asked with one eyebrow raised, "you'll have to tell us after you've had something to eat."

Peach nodded and turned to look down at Pit.

"Would you like something too, Pit?" she inquired, and the angel nodded enthusiastically.

Peach then turned her eyes to Ike, who was still standing in the center of the room, warily guarding the eggs.

"How about you, Ike? I can make us all some breakfast."

Ike narrowed his eyes.

"Can you make eggs?" he questioned, as if this was an important condition to his acceptance of her offer.

At Peach's affirmation that she could in fact make eggs and bacon as well, Ike graciously bestowed his precious carton upon her.

•∞•

After breakfast was eaten and Zelda had brewed a pot of tea for them all, the ladies plus Pit (Ike had moved off to eat his food in another room), gathered around the table to hear and to recount the unfortunate events of Peach's morning.

When the princess got to the part about her disastrous first meeting with Dart, Zelda raised both her slender eyebrows and Palutena visibly cringed.

"I am so sorry!" the green-haired woman stated emphatically, "that must have been awful! Was he terribly rude to you?"

Peach's lips tightened as she tried to think of a way to reply graciously to the question without injuring Dart's reputation. He may have been incredibly callous toward her, but that was no excuse for her to go around bad mouthing him. It was her personal belief that spreading any kind of dissent could cause major harm to herself and to others.

So, in light of this, she answered softly, "well, I suppose anyone would be upset if that happened to them. He acted just as anyone would have, I'm sure."

Palutena laughed and patted Peach's arm consolingly.

"You don't need to be so noble! Knowing Dark Pit, he was downright boorish, wasn't he?" the woman guessed.

The princess looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together nervously.

"Well," she muttered slowly, "I wouldn't go so far as to call him 'boorish,' exactly..."

Both Palutena and Zelda cast skeptical looks her way. Peach tried to explain in the least insulting manner she could.

"I mean, he was... well, I suppose maybe he might've..."

"Yeah, he was pretty much a total jerk to her!" Pit cut in matter-of-factly. "He swore at her too, if memory serves." The angel shrugged. "But what can you do? That's Pittoo for you!"

Zelda smiled encouragingly at Peach as she noticed the younger girl getting increasingly upset at the memory.

"Don't worry about it," she told the princess reassuringly, "Dart behaves that way toward everyone. You'll just have to ignore him when he gets like that."

"Yeah," Pit agreed, taking a sip of his tea, "you just have to get used to it. But I promise, Pittoo's really pretty harmless, and he improves upon closer acquaintance. I mean... if you're patient enough to get to know him."

Peach looked up and smiled gratefully at them all.

"Thanks, guys. That really does help. I thought he hated me!" she explained.

"He hates everybody," Palutena told her, "but that's just how he is. It's frustrating, I know. You just have to endure it."

Peach recoiled a bit at this claim.

"He really hates everybody?" she questioned in a soft, disbelieving voice.

Palutena raised her hands in a helpless gesture.

"As far as I know. If he doesn't, then he chooses not to show it, at any rate. Really, he can be a bit of a pill, but like I said, it's just a part of who he is."

Peach only nodded, and the conversation turned to other topics as she silently reflected on what she had just been told. Did Dart really not like anyone? And if so, why not? Was he just angry and callous, or was there something hidden underneath all that ire? Some kind of hurt that he didn't want to reveal?

Peach wasn't sure, but she determined then and there not to write Dart off as an irksome, hate-filled individual. She was going to get to the bottom of this, because if there was one thing she disliked more than being hated by others, it was seeing people suffer.

 _He must have a reason._ Peach told herself firmly, _and I'm going to find out what that reason is, even if it takes awhile, I'll make sure to find a way to make him happy. Maybe then he won't hate me anymore._

Of course, this was easier said than done, and unfortunately for Peach, she would soon find out just how hard her task would prove to be.


	2. Chapter 2

After breakfast, Peach and Pit set out to explore the house. Initially, when Pit had offered to be her tour guide, Peach had declined, feeling she needed some time alone, but after much prodding by the angel, the princess had given in. Palutena had made the boy promise not to chatter too much for Peach's sake, but the princess was certain that the promise wouldn't hold. Pit didn't seem like the type who could stay quiet for extended periods of time, but Peach didn't mind. He was friendly and optimistic, and he helped her keep her mind off of her worries concerning training and Dart.

So, the two set out together through the house.

The place was truly magnificent. The design of all the rooms were simplistic for a mansion of this size, but Peach found she preferred it this way. It was cozy despite its grand size, holding the homey feel of a mountain cottage, albeit one of massive dimensions.

They meandered about for some time, looking into rooms and walking down passages and halls aimlessly about the ground floor, with Pit keeping up a near-constant stream of comments and general jabber. Peach listened to him patiently and with interest. Pit had a lot to say, but he somehow managed to make all his talk engaging, and he did have a vast collection of things to say about the house itself, which surprised Peach. If she was being honest with herself, Peach could admit that she had suspected that she would have to do all the touring and moving-along herself, but Pit kept them both busy, walking in and out of rooms with hardly a pause.

They hardly saw anyone in their wanderings, as most of the house's residents were getting in some late-morning training, though they did bump into a stoic, spiky-haired man outside the movie room whom Pit introduced as Cloud. The man himself seemed to have little to say. He grunted a noncommittal greeting to them before slipping quietly away.

"Yep, he's always like that!" Pit chirruped in explanation. "There are a bunch of weirdos around here. Anyway, lot's more to see! Follow me!"

They finished their exploration of the first floor, and moved on to the second, taking a winding staircase up to the landing at which point it divided into two parts, one leading to the right, the other to the left. Pit took the left hand fork without much thought, as though the rout was habitual, and Peach trailed close behind him.

On the second floor, Pit started down a long hallway directly ahead of them. The hall was carpeted, and its entire right side was without a wall, replaced only by a railing that overlooked the first floor of the mansion.

"This is where all the rooms are—well, the guys' rooms, anyway," Pit told Peach, continuing on with the tour, "the girls are on the other side—we'll have to find you a place to stay, come to think of it—you just take the stairs to the right—I'm glad we're all on the second floor—being high up is great, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is," Peach replied, trying to hide her grin. It was funny—and awfully cute—how Pit seemed to talk in little rushes when he was excited or particularly happy. He appeared to be very enthusiastic about the tour, Peach thought, and he seemed especially pleased to show her this floor.

 _Just like a little kid showing off a new toy!_ The princess reflected with another secret smile. She was liking Pit more and more every second.

"See this door?" Pit questioned, his words once again coming out in an ecstatic rush, "that's Marth and Shulk's room. They're both pretty cool! I think you'd like them. Marth's a bit stiff and formal when you first meet him, but I think that's just 'cause he's a prince. Once you get to know him, though, he's really fun! Shulk's actually a scientist, if you can believe that! He's not a boring one, though. He's really weird and random, but that just makes him cool! Plus, he really likes ice cream, and sometimes he takes me out to get some—even if it's, like, one in the morning!"

"They both sound lovely," Peach commented. "I did talk to Shulk earlier. He helped me find the kitchen."

"Did he?" Pit questioned, spinning around momentarily and walking backwards to meet Peach's gaze as they conversed. "Yeah, Shulk's always the one to ask when you wanna find food. But you shouldn't ask Ike. He's really stingy with his snacks. Oh! This is my room! Wanna see?"

Peach looked at the plain, white door they now stood in front of, wondering briefly how Pit could ever remember who was in which room without a name tag or anything to mark them before turning to the angel to reply to his question.

"If you think it's alright, then sure! I'd love to see it!" Peach humored him.

Pit grinned up at her beatifically, then opened the door.

"This is my room!" he announced brightly.

Peach looked in, and her breath caught in her throat. The room was beautiful, open and surprisingly clean. It too was carpeted, with two beds, one on each side of the room, pushed against the walls. There were two small bureaus opposite the ends of each bed, and matching side tables next to the heads. It was here that the near-identical furnishings differed. Whereas the table on the left was cluttered with feathers, paper clips, comic books and other odd pieces of brick-a-brack, the right one was neat, with a vast collection of books lining the small shelves in the body of the table. Upon its surface was a lamp, an alarm clock, a small, blue, flute-like instrument on a stand, and a carved figure of a bird.

All in all, it was a homey little room, almost like something out of a fancy hotel, but it wasn't the décor that had elicited Peach's astonished reaction. It was the blond-haired, blue-eyed, elven figure sitting on the right-hand bed, a guitar held in his lap as he strummed a chord experimentally. His green tunic was gone, replaced by gray sweatpants and a loose, white t-shirt, and his hair was down, falling, gold and soft, to his collar.

"And there's Link, trying to be musical," Pit concluded upon seeing him.

Peach gaped.

Link. That was Link. The gorgeous elf boy was Link. The man who had stepped in to help her that morning and had allowed her to lean on him the whole way to Mario's office was Link. This was the hero she had heard about. This was a Hylian. She wasn't sure why, but just realizing that this was the person she had hoped to meet earlier—that this was Link—made Peach feel suddenly more fluttery and flustered than she had that morning.

Link had looked up as they entered, and when his eyes fell on Peach, he stiffened, his fingers ceasing to play on the guitar strings.

"Uh… Pit?" the Hylian questioned, his gaze going to the angel, to Peach, then back again in swift succession, "what is she doing in here?"

"I was just showing her around the house, and I asked if she wanted to see my room, so here we are! In my room!" Pit replied with his customary enthusiasm.

"Pit!" Link admonished, locking gazes meaningfully with the angel and gesturing to himself meaningfully with a subtle grunt for emphasis.

"What?" the younger boy asked, clearly not catching the point Link was trying to make.

The Hylian looked quickly and pointedly at Peach before switching back to the angel, his eyebrows raised, biting his bottom lip and gesturing at the princess with his chin with another not-so-subtle grunt of emphasis.

"What!?" Pit demanded, desperately trying to to discern the silent message, "what are you—why do you keep making weird noises at me!?"

Link shot a withering glare at the angel, and Peach realized that it might be time to step in.

"I am so sorry," she apologized, knowing, unlike Pit, that it was her presence here that was bothering the Hylian, "I really didn't know this was your room, I just thought—I'll just go."

Peach turned to leave, but paused as she heard Link call back, "no! Wait!"

He dropped the guitar onto the bed with a soft _twang,_ and hurried to stand and move over to her on his bare feet.

"Sorry about that," he said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "I just wasn't expecting you there… here. I… um… I had kinda planned on talking to you later once I looked a little more presentable, but I guess this'll have to do, huh?"

"No! I mean, it's fine. You're fine. You look good. No, wait! That's not what I meant! You look good—fine! You look fine!" Peach floundered pitifully, kicking herself even as the words came out.

Link chuckled—a warm, strangely mature sound, and his body relaxed some of its stiffness.

"Thanks! I appreciate that! You're not too coherent, are you?" Link asked, not unkindly.

Peach shook her head, her face growing red with embarrassment.

"No, I guess not," she replied quietly, looking self-consciously down at her shoes.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, I just thought it was cute is all," the Hylian explained with a smile.

Peach's knees went a little wobbly with that comment.

"Oh… I'm… thank you! That's… thanks," she stammered out, turning an even deeper shade of crimson.

Link laughed out loud, and Peach realized she'd done it again. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't normally like this, she just couldn't keep her composure around this guy!

"I don't think I ever formally introduced myself," the Hylian said when his laughter had faded, "my name's Link. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He held out his hand to her, and Peach shook it, noting absently how large his hand was compared to hers.

"Nice to meet you too," the princess responded, "I'm Peach."

And it really was nice to meet him, the girl thought, nicer than Link would ever know.

•∞•

At Pit's insistence, Link elected to join them for the remainder of the tour. Peach wasn't sure how well she could keep it together or indeed even manage to speak coherently if he was to come along, but she did her best to steady herself while she and Pit waited outside for Link to change into something "more fitting." Peach thought that a very old-fashioned thing to do, but Pit seemed to be used to it, stating brusquely, "Link's always like that at first. He'll loosen up."

The Hylian emerged a moment later with his hair tied back, wearing a white collared shirt and cargo pants. He still went shoe-less, but who wore shoes inside? Peach thought, then laughed inwardly at herself as she realized that she still wore her own pair of tall heels.

"Thanks for waiting," the young man said as he shut the door of his room closed behind him. "Where are we going now? Have you guys seen the garden yet?"

Pit shook his head.

"I think we'll do the whole house first. We'll get to the outside later. I'm thinking we'll hit the girls' wing next so Peach knows where it is, then maybe check out the armory."

The angel turned to the princess with a wide grin.

"The armory's my favorite." he explained briefly. Somehow, that fact didn't surprise Peach, but she kept the thought to herself. Instead, she returned the smile and replied, "in that case, lead on!"

•∞•

Descending the stairs that lead to the boys' rooms and climbing the set that ascended upward to the right, the threesome soon reached the girls' dormitories. The rooms appeared to be a mirror image of those belonging to the boys, with the wall on the right this time and the railing on the left. A few of the doors had plaques as well, displaying the names of the women who owned them, but a couple—likely those with a better sense of direction, Peach mused—held no sign. Unsurprisingly, as they walked down the hall, there was no trace of Zelda's name on any of the rooms, bolstering Peach's image of the other princess as someone sensible and level-headed—the exact opposite of herself. For a bleak moment, it filled her with a nagging sense of inadequacy. Zelda seemed to be everything a ruler should be, and Peach… Peach was not.

She frowned, speculating darkly on the sheer number of times she had been kidnapped and rescued by Mario and his brother, Luigi, and how she had never been able to help herself. It rankled her to be so useless, but she told herself that all that would change soon. She would train and improve, and soon would be able to fend for herself. She slipped into a fanciful daydream of herself fighting off an army of Bowser's savage underlings, and just as she got to the bit where she roundhouse kicked a snarling Goomba, the thin heel of her shoe snagged on the carpet, and she stumbled forward. She squeaked fearfully as she started to fall, and Pit began to turn at the noise just as she slammed into his feathered back. They both began to go down, and Link, standing beside the angel, reached out instinctively to stop their fall, but the weight of their combined falling bodies dragged him down as well, and a second later they were all sprawled ungracefully on the floor.

"Oh dear," a voice commented above them as the three laid there, a bit stunned, on the carpet, "you'll need much better balance if you ever hope to improve your skills!"

Peach raised her head off Pit's back, spitting feathers and reaching awkwardly for her crown, which had slipped off her head in the fall, and looked up to see a woman standing above them, smiling faintly and good-naturedly. She was tall, with very pale skin and dark hair tied into a ponytail that appeared almost lilac in color, as if it were dyed. She was dressed in a tank top and form-fitting, knee-length pants and held an energy drink in one hand. She looked like she'd just come back from a jog.

"I'd recommend yoga," she continued, reaching her free hand down to help Peach to her feet, "it does wonders for your coordination and balance."

Peach took her hand with shy gratitude and stood, readjusting her crown before helping Pit up. Link was already standing, brushing invisible dust from his clothes and raking his disheveled hair away from his face.

"That was certainly exciting," he chuckled, then turning to the jogger woman, "thanks, Monica."

Monica smiled sweetly, "no trouble. We simply can't have anyone injuring themselves, now can we? Mario's kept busy enough as it is!"

Despite everyone's unconcern about the whole affair, Peach blushed crimson at her blunder and babbled out, "I am so sorry guys. I wasn't paying attention, my shoe got stuck. I should have taken these troublesome things off sooner! It's my fault."

Pit cocked his head with another of his careless grins, plucking a stray bit of white plumage from the princess's hair as he replied, "no worries. Nobody got hurt! No blood no foul!"

Peach still felt a vague guilt about the matter, but as no one seemed angry at her, she forced the feeling away.

"Anyway, Peach," Link cut in, "this is Monica. She's our resident fitness expert." He gestured to the woman, then turned back to Monica and introduced Peach. The other woman seemed very pleased to meet the princess, and held no reservations toward her, greeting her as familiarly as if they were old friends.

"It's always nice to have another girl. If you ask me, there's far too many boys around here. They're all pleasant people, but it's not quite the same, you know?"

Peach nodded dumbly while Pit made a slight offended noise in his throat and stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. Link chuckled lowly at him, nudging him gently with one elbow.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'll be late for my mid-morning treadmill run. It was nice to meet you Peach! We should catch up sometime!"

She waved and took off down the hallway, moving always at a steady, practiced jog.

"She seemed nice," Peach commented when Monica was gone. That much was true, but the princess chose not to add that she seemed a tad odd as well. That seemed to be a trademark around here. Pit was right: this mansion was full of weirdos.

•∞•

After that, the tour went on smoothly. They walked the length of the girls' dormitories, then went down to a sub-floor of the house that contained the armory, gym, secondary lounge area and kitchen, and a storage room. Then, taking them all the way up to the third floor (winding Peach with all the stair-climbing) Pit and Link showed her the music room, balcony, observatory, library, and spacious attic. That concluded the mansion tour, but Pit, ever energetic, never slackened and took Peach and Link outside next. There, they walked the perimeters of the house, and the angel pointed out the patio, pool, and picnic tables. It all seemed like regular mansion fare until they went out farther back, and Pit began to introduce her to the smithy, bomb shelter, and an ancient oak tree that he referred to as "Pittoo's brooding tree."

Finally, they moved on to the gardens. Link seemed particularly excited about this part, though Peach couldn't imagine why. She'd never much liked the outdoors. It was always either too hot, too cold, or on the days when it was just right, it was buggy. She humored him, though, and let him show her around.

The garden was rather nice as gardens went. There were small patches of vegetables growing out on black squares of soil, and a few stray fruit trees placed strategically around them to catch the most sun. These, Link pointed out with hardly a pause, heading instead for a large greenhouse placed between all this. He held the door open as she and Pit entered, then came in behind them, his eyes bright with a kind of juvenile wonder.

"This is my favorite spot." he told Peach.

The princess could see why. The greenhouse was like a well-kept jungle. Flowering plants grew everywhere, sprouting from the floor and raised wooden planters. Tendrils of lush vines crept up the walls, and laden bushes sagged nearly to the floor with their burdens of fruit. Gold sunlight filtered in through the glass roof and shone through the rich leaves, flowers, and buds crowding the place, coloring the whole interior in shades of green, blue, purple, red, and every other color Peach could imagine.

"This is beautiful," Peach gasped, her eyes drinking in the dream-like sight before her.

"Yeah," Link agreed, standing beside her and gazing with an almost parental pride and affection at the plants.

"It tends to get a bit pricey, buying enough food for meals and stuff, so we started growing some of our own a few years back. It's really helped with the finances, actually."

"Link grew most of this himself!" Pit put in as he snitched a strawberry out of a nearby planter and popped it in his mouth. "He's a real tree-hugger."

Link turned to Pit, a stung look on his face.

"I grew up in the woods and my adoptive father was a tree, Pit," he explained, sounding a bit hurt.

Peach began to laugh at that statement, believing for a second that he was joking, but her giggle died quickly when she noticed his stony expression.

"Wait..." she started uncertainly, "your dad was really a tree?"

Link looked down at her, his eyes softening just a bit and a faint smile lighting his face at her bewildered expression, "yeah. He was really a tree. He's dead now, though."

Peach, crestfallen but still confused, managed to say, "oh. I'm sorry."

Link shrugged and turned away from her.

"It's fine. There was nothing anyone could have done." His tone sounded like he was trying to reassure himself of that fact.

"Anyway," he said, turning back around and smiling again as if to shake off the gloomy atmosphere, "that was nine years ago. I think we've seen the whole place now. You should talk to the princess about where you'll be staying."

He started out, and the others followed close behind as Peach asked, "the princess?"

Link looked at her over his shoulder, replying with a small, wistful grin, "sorry. I meant Zelda."

"Oh," Peach said, but after that was silent, reflecting with a sinking heart about how the Hylian's voice had softened as he spoke the name of his princess.


	3. NOTE

**A/N:**

 **Hello, my beautiful readers! I just wanted y'all to know that I have definitely not abandoned this story, but that it might be a while before I update the next chapter. I am currently working on my FFXV story, _Sitters_ at the moment, so I can't promise when chapter three will be out. **

**In the meantime, I want to say a big thank you to you all for following this story and supporting me. It really means a lot!**


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